Food Safety

[psychedelix47]

Just wondering what food in Thailand are safe to eat.

On my 2nd extended visit now, and no probs so far, but I've been cautious.

I know the basics like drink only bottled water and cooked food. But I had some rainwater at my girl's parents, they told me afer I drnk it...

woh, they collect it themselves, talk about back to the roots and connecting with nature, man, I love that aspect of Thai culture!

Are there any health inspectors in Thailand? I mean like for the meat sold in the markets, for example, is that tested and approved? They even eat it raw, chopped with plenty of chili and spices to sesinfect it.

And what about more exotic food? I've seen carts in the evening selling bugs, fried beetles and grasshoppers, i haven't worked up the courage to try yet! I can't imagine this is regulated. How do they get them - I hope not by spraying insecticides?

[mittheimp]

Just wondering what food in Thailand are safe to eat.

On my 2nd extended visit now, and no probs so far, but I've been cautious.

I know the basics like drink only bottled water and cooked food. But I had some rainwater at my girl's parents, they told me afer I drnk it...

woh, they collect it themselves, talk about back to the roots and connecting with nature, man, I love that aspect of Thai culture!

Are there any health inspectors in Thailand? I mean like for the meat sold in the markets, for example, is that tested and approved? They even eat it raw, chopped with plenty of chili and spices to sesinfect it.

And what about more exotic food? I've seen carts in the evening selling bugs, fried beetles and grasshoppers, i haven't worked up the courage to try yet! I can't imagine this is regulated. How do they get them - I hope not by spraying insecticides?

generally ok, especially if its cooked in front of you as you order it. However you may well get ill at some point - body has a different immune system, but eventually your body will get used to it!

[PhilHarries]

Just wondering what food in Thailand are safe to eat.

On my 2nd extended visit now, and no probs so far, but I've been cautious.

I know the basics like drink only bottled water and cooked food. But I had some rainwater at my girl's parents, they told me afer I drnk it...

woh, they collect it themselves, talk about back to the roots and connecting with nature, man, I love that aspect of Thai culture!

Are there any health inspectors in Thailand? I mean like for the meat sold in the markets, for example, is that tested and approved?

You are joking aren't you? There are some kind of certificates of hygene but I ate at one restaurant proudly displaying it's cert. The walls were originally white tiles but were then a dirty greasy brown, food (salad veggies) being prepared right outside the crapper door, street dogs and cats wandering around. But with all that we survive, just make sure the food is freash cooked and thoroughly cooked.

They even eat it raw, chopped with plenty of chili and spices to sesinfect it.

Yeah, my miisus used to prepare a wicked laarb muu having to go to market early to get the pigs blood. She's make it and we'd eat it raw, then she'd cook any left over for the next day. Never had a major stomach upset, or not one I could've put down to the food.

And what about more exotic food? I've seen carts in the evening selling bugs, fried beetles and grasshoppers, i haven't worked up the courage to try yet! I can't imagine this is regulated. How do they get them - I hope not by spraying insecticides?

Regulated? The mere thought is enough to crack me up

I have tried most of the bugs and would recommend you let your guts settle in for a while first as they are, shall we say, an aquired taste. Possibly one you wish you had never aquired. There was a rumour a long while back that the locusts were killed by insecticides but all the ones I saw going into the pot were still alive and kicking.

A lot really depends on you, some have no problems and some have the squits on a regular basis. Some love Thai food and can't get enough of it and some hate the stuff.

Edited to corrct for my misreading

Edited April 18, 2007 by PhilHarries

[GuestHouse]

My personal experience, and that of my family, is that we have had very few instances of food poisoning in Thailand. Considering the number of meals eaten out, and in particular from side of the road shacks etc I would say we have had remarkably few instances of food poisoning, far less than might be feared.

However, I would disconnect food poisoning (in terms of a dose of the 'Delhi Bellies and Bombay Bums') from other far more serious food safety concerns.

The use of chemicals, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics etc in Thai food production does concern me greatly. (Not just legal approved chemicals, but the black market stuff that is widely used in Thailand, and let's not forget land and water contamination from very poorly regulated industry).

[Edit] - "Not to forget, artificial flavours, colourants and preservetives"

I personally know several Thais who grow to lots of food, 'Food for market - Sprayed and treated' and 'Food for home consumption, grown naturally.

I've also heard many Thais expressing concern over food safety - Not just educated middle class Thais, but also villagers who are involved in food production.

One of the primary considerations we had in choosing a plot of land to build our house on is that it should have sufficient land to grow our own vegitibles. Neither of us have much faith in Thai food safety.

Edited April 18, 2007 by GuestHouse

[WaiWai]

And what about more exotic food? I've seen carts in the evening selling bugs, fried beetles and grasshoppers ... How do they get them - I hope not by spraying insecticides?

Haha

Yes, many concerns re hormones, pesticides et al.

I would definitely avoid raw meat for fear of parasites and other bugs.

You can read about the "Clean food, good taste" project at

http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/MEETING/004/AB523E.HTM.

[terry57]

Just wondering what food in Thailand are safe to eat.

On my 2nd extended visit now, and no probs so far, but I've been cautious.

I know the basics like drink only bottled water and cooked food. But I had some rainwater at my girl's parents, they told me afer I drnk it...

woh, they collect it themselves, talk about back to the roots and connecting with nature, man, I love that aspect of Thai culture!

Are there any health inspectors in Thailand? I mean like for the meat sold in the markets, for example, is that tested and approved? They even eat it raw, chopped with plenty of chili and spices to sesinfect it.

And what about more exotic food? I've seen carts in the evening selling bugs, fried beetles and grasshoppers, i haven't worked up the courage to try yet! I can't imagine this is regulated. How do they get them - I hope not by spraying insecticides?

you obviously aint been around to long have you mate?

i'll give you the big tip, and that is to just get into everything you see and you will be absolutely fine.

especially the street food that is cooked fresh in front of you, as its brilliant tucker.

just make sure you drink bottled water and the rain water should be fine.

forget about inspectors as the thais are there own inspectors.

enjoy.

[draggons]

Can't get enough of khung chen nam pla (think that's right) raw prawns, love them but the first time the missus got them I thought I'd die for sure but have never had a problem yet

[meadish_sweetball]

The hygiene is generally ok if not great, and as Terry says, in street kitchens at least you have the benefit of assessing it yourself. As a tourist you don't have to worry as eating hormone treated meat and various chemicals now and then wont hurt you much.

But as Guest House says, the long term perspective is different because these things build up gradually and without you noticing it.

Cancer is severely on the rise in Thailand. From not having been a problem at all one or two generations ago, it is making its way up the scales rapidly.

The problem is generally not the laws, but the lack of inspection and enforcement. There are health inspectors, and now and then they make busts (the last bust I recall being reported in the media was guava that had been preserved in formalin and sold in a shop outside Carrefour, Chiang Mai). But government salaries are low, and it does not take a former Austrian patent office employee with a frizzy hairdo to figure out that some extra kickbacks may ensure you are never inspected, or at any rate receive advance notice before they turn up so you can get your house in order.

Farmers obviously want to make as much profit as possible and use oodles of pesticides on the stuff they sell and don't eat themselves if they can get away with it.

The longer I stay here, the more I gravitate towards veggie food, since by nature vegetarians and vegans are more careful and reflective about what they eat. Chiang Mai also happens to have great variety when it comes to vegetarian food.

[phazey]

I've had more cases of the runs after eating in a 4/5 star hotel/resturant than i've had eating from a motorbike with a kitchen welded to it. <fact>.

And the last one was a 3 day stint on the throne - not nice

Edited April 18, 2007 by phazey

[markr]

There will be different types of bactieria on food in thailand than what your stomach is used to, however this is not a bad thing as you will build a tolerance to it.The food generally is great, especially food that is cooked on street stalls etc, I have only once had a dicky belly!

Aroi!

Mark

[noungning]

well when i was in thailand, i knew that my digestive system worked extremely better than when i was here (USA).

when i first came back, i had bad food poisoning adjusting my body to the food here. it was weird, but i didn't have food poisoning in thailand.

[psychedelix47]

Thanks, so far this confirms my observations.

I just thought I'd get a second opinion before plunging into unsafe practices regarding all the strange and wonderful foodstuff.

Man, Thaifood got my taste-buds excited, even some of the extremely hot curries. Mind you, some of the intestines and things are just plain weird, fancy chewing on a spleen tube while sipping some Sangsom?

So the meat isn't controlled, better stick to nice BBQs and fry-ups!

What about other animals, in my girlie's home village you'd find almost everything that moves at some time or other, from field-rats to squirrels and boar, some folks even eat dogs, apparently it's cheap and tastes like chicken.

I wonder where they get them from, those strays don't look very healthy...

Thailand has been a continual rollercoaster of flavours and images, but the new visa regulations force me to go back home, just as well, better scrape some money together, it's a bit embarassing accepting all the Thai hospitality and not being able to reciprocate without creating a big hole in my budget.

Alright, next time I'll be sprangled during a night out, I'll let someone buy a bag of bugs for me to get my teeth into!

[qwertz]

You're not safe from iffy food anywhere. Read up on the putrid wholesale meat products scam that the food racketeers have been running in squeaky clean Germany. I'm now right off sausages and burgers, not to mention doners.

[Jamie]

Never had a problem with it and I ate mainly street vendor food, though my girl friend seemed to have a knack of knowing which and which not to go to. They say you shouldn't drink anything with ice cubes in it either, but I did with no problems...might have been luck, don't know.

[Scott]

There are may problems with food safety in Thailand and I think you have hit on most of them. We once had an after-work get together at a local restaurant--nice place, but everyone got sick, including the long-timers in Thailand. A few of us (myself included) just got a mild case of loose bowels, but some were out of work for a week and needed medical attention (not hospitalization).

We tried to report the incidence to the health officials to have them clean the place up a bit, but they were of no help. They wanted Dr's certificates, official documents, sworn testimony etc. We were not interested in getting the place in trouble, just seeing that they got to the root of the problem. The owner was gone, and the help were of 'no help.'

Interestingly, the place was quite clean, the kitchen area was open so you could see it was reasonably clean. According to one Dr. it was salmonella and probably carried on the dishes. Three months later people were still getting sick, but nothing was done.

Sad that the officials couldn't just stop by and explain some basic health practices to the staff and save everyone a lot of time and money.

Just take care and be prepared.

[mrt273nva]

'laab goi nuya' is one of my favorite dishes, but i think many farang would shy away from it because it is basically uncooked meat. when i am in a different country and i see people eating or drinking something and not dying from it, i generally (not 100% of the time though) assume that it is safe for me as well.

if i get sick, well then hopeful those memory B blood cells will go to work and protect me for the next time i eat some bar nuts or something else unsanitary.

[PhilHarries]

One thing to add, you almost certainly will go down with a dose of the squits but if/when you do go easy on the Imodium.

One of the guys on my project just had to be medivacced out of Viet Nam to Bangkok due to a stomach infection. After a rake of tests it was diagnosed as infections of the stomach and colon with an additional amoeba infection of the intestines. A lot of it was put down to taking Imodium for an extended period (sorry don't know how long) and a drug Smecta (never heard of it) was recommended as a more system friendly alternate.

Bon appetit

[Jamie]

One thing to add, you almost certainly will go down with a dose of the squits but if/when you do go easy on the Imodium.

One of the guys on my project just had to be medivacced out of Viet Nam to Bangkok due to a stomach infection. After a rake of tests it was diagnosed as infections of the stomach and colon with an additional amoeba infection of the intestines. A lot of it was put down to taking Imodium for an extended period (sorry don't know how long) and a drug Smecta (never heard of it) was recommended as a more system friendly alternate.

Bon appetit

Yep, best to drink plenty of water or something with electrolytes and just let it take its course. Taking Imodium stops what the body is trying to do...get rid of a bad bug.